Worth
by werebunny131
Summary: All the things they do for me...but I'm not worth it... Beetlejuice/Lydia Friendship Two-shot.
1. Beetlejuice

He wasn't worth it.

He knew that. He neighbors knew that. Heck, probably the whole Neitherworld knew that! As a matter of fact, forget the 'probably'.

He wasn't worth it.

No one really liked him. Frankly, he was fine with that. He didn't like anyone else anyway. Well, no one except Lydia. And Jacque. And maybe Ginger. And the Monster Across the Street. And Doomie. And…

Oh, who was he kidding? He liked a lot of people. But it was better to keep the 'like-list' short. Less people could mess with you that way. And even for the people he did like, he made sure to keep them a good arm's length away. A good prank always riled them up and kept them on their toes.

It was safer that way.

Well…except for one. Lydia. He wouldn't pull a prank on her. Not like the others. She'd probably see though it anyway, but he didn't want to risk it. Not with her. More than someone he liked a bit, she was…his friend. His best friend.

For…some reason.

Lydia was a girl. A normal, teenage, human, _mortal_ girl. She was his only friend in the living world. Had been for centuries. Well…actually…_ever_.

There was just no call for Lydia to even acknowledge his presence, let alone be his friend. She said he was funny, but she could just as easily laugh at him from the other side of the street like everyone else in the Neitherworld. He knew he gave her dull mortal life some excitement, but with all the times she reined him in, rather than turning him loose, he didn't think that was the reason. She got him out of all of his troubles, while he got her into more trouble in one day than most girls her age got into in their entire lifetimes!

But at the end of the day. She still said 'See you tomorrow, Beetlejuice!' like it was a promise.

He wasn't worth it.

He was a rude, crude, smelly, mean, disgusting, greedy, heartless, uncaring, filthy, crass, conniving, idiotic, 'Ghost With The Most' and that wasn't even the complete list of vices he had.

But she still called for him. She still came over almost every day. He couldn't understand it. He didn't understand a lot of things, but this was really brain-twisting.

Ow.

She…liked him. She liked him, and she liked being his friend. He knew he drove her nuts sometimes, but still, she would giggle at his puns and help him out of whatever situation he'd gotten himself into at the time.

He wasn't worth it.

Oh, he knew that hanging around with him had its few perks. He usually had the most fun in the Neitherworld. But he could handle the dangers that came with it because…there wasn't much more anyone could do to him. He was dead, and she was alive, and he put her in danger.

He wouldn't trade their friendship for anything, though! Not even all the money in _both_ worlds. But he still prepared himself for the day when he popped into her mirror, and she wouldn't be there. She was a teenager after all. She still had a lot of growing up to do. He could frighten anyone and everyone, but the thought that he might just be a phase to her, scared him more than Sandworms. He feared the day that she rejected him, more than anything, but he still showed up every day. He waited for the moment when she would turn her head away, not saying his name even once, but he still asked for them every time he came over. And she still said them, with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Babes!"

He wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth _her_. But he couldn't ever tell her that. If she hadn't wondered why she was still hanging around some smelly, creepy, old dead guy, he wasn't going to bring it to the forefront of her mind. He was going to savor every smelly, disgusting, freaky little second of their time together.

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"


	2. Lydia

She wasn't worth it.

She knew that. Ask anyone in school and they'd say the same. She was weird, spooky, freaky, creepy, and…well…she just didn't fit there. Even at home, she didn't really belong. She loved her parents, of course. And they loved her back. But…love doesn't equal belonging.

But there was one place where she felt like she truly belonged. The Neitherworld. There, all of her friends liked her for herself, not for anything she might do. They didn't think she was creepy or spooky. When people are dead, it takes more than a little macabre point of view to bother them. They enjoyed it when she came over, and were always sad when she left. She felt…like she belonged.

But there was one ghoul she didn't feel 'belonged' with. With her friend, her best friend, it was more. With Beetlejuice, she felt, not just a sense of belonging, she felt…wanted. No, not just wanted, needed. He made her feel needed.

She wasn't worth it.

Beetlejuice was one of, if not _the_, most powerful ghost in the Neitherworld. If he cared more about power (and if his juice didn't rely so heavily on pranks and puns) he could take over the entire Neitherworld faster than you could say 'It's Showtime'. But he didn't think of things that way. He just wanted to prank people, and think up hare-brained schemes to get rich. He didn't want to juice up an easy way out, he wanted to have fun.

But…he did it with her, and she didn't understand why.

She wasn't worth it.

How many times had he had to save her? How many times had she argued with him, and gotten him to do something he didn't want to do? She tried to get him to do the right thing, but the fact that she succeeded most of the time was why half the Neitherworld held her in awe. The other half thought she was watering down the best specter in the afterlife. And wasn't she? She never would've recognized the old Beetlejuice from the Beetlejuice of now. He had softened enormously since she had known him. Any other ghost would've noticed this and ditched her as soon as possible.

It would be easy for Beetlejuice to ditch her. He just didn't have to show up when she called. Don't answer the door when she came over. There was a whole other world for him. He didn't have to spend his afterlife being a pet to a teenage mortal.

She wasn't worth it.

And yet he still showed up in her mirror every day, just begging for the 'B-words' so he could help her out with whatever was bugging her at the time. Or tempting her with Neitherworld trips they could take. Or inviting her over to his house, just so they could sit around and watch TV together. He would crack his non-stop jokes and turn into whatever came off the top of his head, just so he could make her laugh.

She wasn't worth it.

She didn't, and _couldn't_, ever repay him for all that he had done for her. Sure, she might get him out of a jam once and a while, but there were so many times where _he_ could've gotten himself out of it if he'd only stop and think. She was alive, and he was dead, and she only held him down.

She didn't want their friendship to end, but she kept steeling herself for the day when he grew tired of her, and she'd have to go back to a normal life. She would probably still be able to come to the Neitherworld, but she didn't think she could stand being there without him punning away at her side. She often wondered if this would be the day. The day when her mirror would show only her. When there would be no ghost in a pin-striped suit trying to persuade her to say his name three times so he could prank her parents. The day when she would call for him, and get no answer. When she would knock on his door and get a skeleton, or a spider, and nothing else. But even as she wondered, and worried, he would always appear with that all-too-familiar odor.

"Hey, Babes!"

She wasn't worth it. She wasn't worth _him_. But she wasn't ever going to tell him that. If he hadn't wondered why he still hung around a puny little mortal yet, she wasn't going to bring it to the forefront of his mind. She was going to savor every smelly, disgusting, freaky little second of their time together.

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"


End file.
